Spider-Man PS4: 10 Things It Must Learn From Batman Arkham
9. Treat The Supporting Cast Better
Insomniac
The Arkham games left a lot to be desired when it came to the characterisations of certain characters, and while Arkham Origins excelled in the writers' room, the rest of the series largely didn't.
This was particularly evident in Arkham Knight, were Batman: The Animated Series alum and comics veteran Paul Dini had absented the franchise completely. All of Batman's supporting characters just seemed to be victimised, killed off or just mistreated completely, all in an effort to reinstate the primacy of a character whose allies have formed an essential part of his comics for years.
Insomniac's Spidey already looks to be on the right lines with its approach to Mary Jane, who'll assume the role of a Daily Bugle reporter and playable character in the game. They're also showing a Peter conscious of his life out of the Spidey suit, which not only illustrates a reverence for the source material, but also that Peter's allies will be treated with due respect.
Oh and they're making an effort to include Miles Morales. What's not to love?
WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well.
In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.
